A wise man will learn from his mistakes and the mistakes of others. I once listened to a Special Forces Sergeant who related his Vietnam experiences to me. One thing that he told me is that he would never be the first to try something new. He would stand clear and see if it worked. If it did he knew that it was safe to do.
Now this is what I would probably do in combat but I don’t think that it’s a good idea for business. If you wait in business you will end up getting left behind. The point here is that he learned from someone else’s experience before he took a risk. There is no need of me making the same mistakes that others have made in the past or of being tripped up by the same pitfalls that may have caused problems for someone else. If I can avoid the traps which slowed them down I can cover more ground.
It’s good to sit down and do your homework before you start a venture. Talk to others who have done the same thing and see how it went with them. I have learned that when I do this I will get a lot of information which I can’t necessarily use but I get a lot of good useful information also. People will tend to dwell on the things which have hurt them in the past. They will linger on conversations regarding those things but take note. If a person was really traumatized by a past event then you know that you need to avoid the same event by all means necessary.
Don’t allow a bad experience to cause you to miss a golden opportunity however. Opportunities are often disguised as problems. Learn how to take the time to be perceptive. Don’t be in a hurry to dismiss what may not seem to be a good idea. I once had a store in another city where I had to release the persons who were working for me. I had to go back and reopen it and hire and train new people and a manager. I had talked to people who I thought would be good for the job but none of them came through when it mattered. I had to hire a young lady who I just didn’t think would work out at all. She was the only one who came and she applied just a day or two before I had to leave the city. There is no way that I would have hired her if I had a choice. I reluctantly hired her and she turned out to be one of the best employees that I ever had. She was punctual, conscientious, honest, and loyal. If I had ten people like her I would run for president and win.
The bad experience that I had with the one manager tainted my perception of things. In this case I was forced to make a choice that I thought would not be a good one. The bad choice turned out to be the best choice. Learn from bad experiences but be objective when it comes to making new decisions.
Learn how to play it back in your mind. You may have to recall incidents from the past to recover information from them. File incidents away in your mind for further recall. This tactic may save you at sometime in the future. I saw one example of this on a TV show. A mob boss was talking with one of his subordinates whose loyalty he wasn’t sure of. When he played a past incident over in his mind he saw exactly what he needed to know about the employee
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions will save you from future potential problems. Sometimes people who ask a lot of questions are perceived to be pesky. If you have to be a pest to get the information that you need then by all means be a pest. Apply experience and win. . The Good Life
Cedric Rice is the founder of Riceland Enterprises, which is composed of several different business ventures. This company is currently located in Georgia.
Riceland Enterprises is one of several web sites that Mr. Rice owns and operates which is oriented towards consumers along with Military Ring Express, and Fragrance Oil Express
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